Veronica Mars (character)

Before the show starts, Veronica's best friend, Lilly Kane, has been murdered, and her father, Keith Mars, has lost not only his position of sheriff in the fictional town of Neptune, California, but also his reputation, status, and wife. The series begins with Veronica at the bottom of her posh high school's pecking order, having lost her popular status and popular friends because her father accused her boyfriend's father of involvement in the murder.

Character history

Background and Plot

At the beginning of the series, Veronica is a 17-year-old junior at

Back-story to season one

Veronica's story is told via voice-overs and flashbacks fitted into the main story. The year before the series picks up, Veronica was part of the in-crowd at Neptune High. Her best friend was popular junior

Duncan broke up with Veronica and stopped talking to her with no explanation. Lilly refused to explain to Veronica what went wrong. Shortly afterwards, Lilly was found murdered at the side of her family's pool. Sheriff Keith Mars accused Lilly's father, beloved software entrepreneur

The shock and loss of income destroyed the Mars family. Veronica's mother started drinking heavily and abandoned the family several months later.

Veronica sealed her fate as an outsider when she refused to denounce her father. Duncan stopped speaking to Veronica, and the rest of the 09ers followed suit. Veronica found herself banished from the exclusive 09er social scene and friends.

Two months after her death, Veronica crashed an 09er party, thrown by Shelley Pomroy, to prove to her ex-friends that she did not care what they said about her. At the party, Veronica's drink is spiked with

These events had a marked effect on Veronica. She became cynical, filled with contempt and disgust towards her classmates and Neptune's wealthy elite. A pariah like her father, she funneled her time and energy into helping him with his own detective agency. But when a chance encounter with new transfer student Wallace Fennel led to her gaining a new friend, she begins to use her investigation skills to help her fellow students and to eventually go head-to-head with the 09'ers.

Veronica slowly begins to outgrow her cynicism, with the help of new friends

Detective

After being ousted from the Sheriff's Department, Keith Mars opens Mars Investigations, a PI agency, Veronica gains an after-school job as his secretary. Though she is often forbidden from handling certain cases, she often oversteps her boundaries and sometimes even completely solves the case before her father. She is also an unofficial private investigator for Neptune High tracking down computer hackers, digging up dirt on parents, finding out who stole the school's mascot, and the likes. She keeps one step ahead of her father and Vice-Principal

Their relationship quickly ran into trouble when it was revealed Logan was the one who supplied the GHB that would eventually lead to Veronica being drugged and raped at Shelly Pomroy's party. For a time, Veronica even suspected that Logan was her rapist. When she discovered that he wasn’t, she resolved everything with him. Their relationship was revealed to Logan's 09er friends at a party. At the same party, Veronica discovered cameras trained on the bed in Logan's pool house and flees. Soon after, Veronica found out that Logan had no alibi the day Lilly was murdered and feared that he had killed her.

Veronica found out that the cameras in the pool house had been set up by Logan's father,

He and the 09ers began a vicious turf war with the PCHers. Veronica breaks up with Logan soon after, telling him that he was out of control and that he enjoyed participating in the violence too much.

Late in the season though, he drunkenly revealed to Veronica that he still had deep feelings for her and thought that their love was ‘epic. Veronica visits him the next morning to tell him that she felt the same, only to find out that he had no memory of what he’d said and had slept with old flame

Afterwards, they resume their relationship and become closer over the summer. At the beginning of the third season, they begin attending

Unable to deal with Veronica being in constant danger, Logan tries to convince her to drop her investigation into the rapes and even has a bodyguard tail her without her knowledge, infuriating Veronica when she finds out. Though they fight out their problems and both admit that they love one another, Logan breaks up with Veronica in the ninth episode. He says that they can both see that they aren’t working out because neither of them can change their ways (Veronica with her trust issues and Logan with his need to protect her despite her wishes) and that he would rather a little pain now than a lot later. He tells her he will always be there for her. Veronica is deeply upset and breaks down when she gets home. Although Logan tries to help Veronica find out who the rapist is, he is still elsewhere when she is attacked by Mercer and Moe. When he learns that Mercer was the one who attacked Veronica, he purposely gets himself arrested so he can be in the same cell as him — for revenge.

They spent the next six weeks apart. During the break-up, Dick tried to help Logan move on by bringing him to the beach, later meeting up with a group of girls. Later, Veronica showed up at Logan's place and they shared a passionate kiss, realizing that they had missed each other, and became a couple again. In the next episode, Logan told Veronica that he had hooked up with someone else who "meant less than nothing to him" over their 6-week break, but didn't elaborate on who it was. It turns out that Logan had slept with

Logan moved on to

Although they haven't seen each other in nine years, the characters reconnect in the

Stosh "Piz" Piznarski

Veronica met Piz on her first day at Hearst College when Wallace (who is Piz's roommate) requested her help to find Piz's missing things in '

Piz and Veronica seem quite happy together, and stand by each other when a racy video of them is emailed around Hearst. When Logan attacks Piz after jumping to the conclusion that Piz made the video, Veronica vows never to speak to him again, and Logan's new girlfriend, Parker, breaks up with him because she realizes that he still has feelings for Veronica. After finding out who sent the video, Piz and Veronica are eating lunch when the culprit walks in. Veronica threatens him but he is unapologetic, taunting her about what he can do. Piz holds Veronica back, advising her to drop it and walk away. She reluctantly obeys. The next day Veronica is approached by the student who bugged Piz's dorm room. He is very insulting to Veronica, who ignores it and warns Logan that the boy is connected to the Mafia. Logan remarks that he wondered why Veronica was so forgiving and then beats the culprit up with much passion (as he does not have anything left to lose). When the student, lying on the floor, threatens "whoever you are, you're going to die," Logan answers flippantly "yeah, someday," then shares a look with Veronica who gives a hint of a smile. Logan then apologizes to Piz for attacking him, as Veronica earlier advised him to do, and leaves the scene without turning back, with Veronica still staring at him. Piz's eyes go from Veronica to Logan, and to Veronica again. Sighing, he expresses a look of realization that he may never have the connection with Veronica that Logan has as she guiltily looks down.

In the

Reception

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2012)

Media journalists have remarked that Bell's performance in the series was overlooked and deserved an

References